


Statistics and Experiences

by hidama



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, WhyCantConnerHaveNiceThings, Yes this is how I imagine Chloe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-01 10:43:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15141377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hidama/pseuds/hidama
Summary: An opposites-attract story, where Markus views life through emotions and experiences, and Connor views life through statistics and probabilities.Markus is an up and coming artist and a grad student studying art history who is seeking a roommate. Connor is an undergraduate studying economics who needs to pay the lowest rent possible to make ends meet.





	1. Chapter 1

Connor looked back at his phone, and then back up to the old church building. His GPS wasn’t wrong, and the building had the address he was given. With sigh, he started typing out a message.

/ Hey, this is Connor. I think I may have written the address down wrong. Could you resend it to me?

/ If you’re standing in front of an old stone church, then you’re here. I’ll meet you at the side door.

/ OK

Connor pocketed his phone and got back on his bike, traveling the short distance down the gravel drive. As he approached, he saw a man step out of the red door at the side of the building. He held up his hand, and Connor gave a short wave in reply.

He was caught off guard by the handsome man smiling warmly at him. He had had a different concept in mind when the man said he was a grad student studying art—something a bit more bohemian or disordered, but this man was nothing but clean cut lines and simple, fashion-forward looks to culminate in a rather too good looking ensemble. And the man was definitely a grad student—his defined facial features placed him in his late twenties. He had a close shaved head, bright eyes, and his face tapered sharply into a handsome heart shape, but still somehow had an almost boyish, soft charm to it. And his casual and well-fit clothes accented his athletic build.

Connor squashed his reaction of being flustered and he instead focused on trying his best to look cool—cool as one can look rolling up on a beat up, second-hand bike. He needed to make a good impression; this was the most affordable place he could find close enough to campus.

“Hi, I’m Connor. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.”

Markus laughed warmly and shook his hand, and Connor almost cringed at how ridiculously formal he must sound to this guy.

“I’m Markus. The pleasure’s all mine. You can leave your bike here for now, and let’s head up to the flat.”

Connor rested the scratched up bike against the building and followed the man into the old church.

As they climbed the old wooden stairs, ancient creaks and groans punctuating Markus's story.

“This church was the one of the oldest in the community. But the congregation aged out and as the university grew fewer people had houses nearby. The university was going to buy this, like it did the land all around it. But then Carl Manfred—maybe you’ve heard of him? He’s a pretty famous artist. Anyway, he knows the university will low ball the bid and so he gives them a fair price for it and the university lost this, and then lost its shit. He basically blew the university’s plan to spend a few million dollars on a new stadium.”

Markus opened the heavy wooden door—with a bit of a shove, Connor noticed—and they walked into what could only be the attic. But instead of cobwebs and low ceilings and a dark, dingy space, it was full of light. Natural light from windows, painted light from stained glass, ambient light reflected off the soft colors on the walls—it was breathtaking.

“I can see why an artist would be here, look at all of the different light,” he commented, taking in everything.

“Exactly, thank you.” Markus smiled again and gestured at his place. “Finally, someone who gets it.”

Connor demurred. “Oh, I’m no artist. But I know enough about the importance of perception and light.”

Markus looked him square in the eye in surprise, and Connor thought he had to be blushing under the scrutiny. “I thought you said you’re an economics major?”

“I am,” Connor said a bit defensively. He continued softly, “I can’t make art, or really understand it, to be honest, but I can understand some of the elements of it, one of them being light.”

Markus kept studying him, so Connor stepped aside to get a better view of the place and to escape the feel of the man’s gaze.

“It’s… a lot bigger than I thought,” Connor said in surprise. When he responded to the listing of sharing a studio flat with someone, he imagined a cramped space, not this long, narrow room that followed the entire length the church roof. It was semi-organized in three areas—a workspace for painting, a sort of lounge area, and open bedroom area.

Markus stepped back into his view.

“You can have either space you’d like—the middle or the end of the space. The bathroom is there, though, so you’d have to put up with me popping in to take a shower.”

Don’t you dare think about this charming man taking a shower, Connor scolded himself. He walked down the length of the room, carefully considering his options. He could be in the center, but then his roommate would have to cross back and forth to reach his art area. He could rig up some kind of screen or sheet at the end at least so that no one walked through his space to reach the sole bathroom. It would very much limit his space, but he didn’t really need that much.

“I don’t need much space. If you’re willing to let me have the end, I think I’d like that best.”

“That works fine,” Markus replied. “Oh, and if you have a tv or couch, we can squeeze it in here in the middle if you’d like.”

Connor waved his hands. “Oh, no, you don’t have to worry. It’s just me, and my bike, and my bed.”

Markus looked both surprised and relieved. “OK, cool. Then I’ll just move my bed over and clear out my stuff before you move in.”

Connor looked up at the painted ceiling and then leaned over the man’s bed to look out the small octagon window to see the empty, grassy field around the church.

He gestured to the view. “So, the university owns all of this?”

Markus joined him at the window. “Yeah. And it’s all useless right now until they can buy the church.”

Connor thought through the implications and just couldn’t understand what motivated the man to buy the church or rent it out as space. Surely the university would now give him an excellent price for the land?

“Why didn’t he sell it? I mean, the man that bought this place. I’m sure the university would have doubled what he paid for it.”

The graduate student laughed—Connor already loved that laugh, it was soft and warm—and grinned as he told the rest of the story. Markus began walking to the floor cushions in the center of the room and Connor followed, intrigued by the story.

“So, Carl gave a lot of money to the university. A lot. To go to the arts. And the art department got an increase, but two years later there was a massive cut and the stadium plans were announced.”

“Ah, so Carl’s purchase was revenge.”

“The biggest fuck you he could give to the university,” Markus smirked and settled on a cushion.

Connor took off his messenger bag and settled on a floor pillow opposite. “So that’s why it’s in this empty lot. The university must have been buying out houses for the last few years. But why did—Carl, you said? Why did Carl rent it? I mean, it’s nice, but I assume the bottom part is still a church?”

Markus nodded. “Yeah, it’s all still the church down below. Well, you see, the university wanted to take him to court about this being a sort of revenge purchase, and something about upkeep and abandoned buildings and what not. So he rented it to exactly one person,” he pointed to himself, “so that he could say it was a rental property and negate all of the legal stuff the university was trying to throw at him so he’d lose the church.”

Connor chuckled quietly and met the grad’s eyes. “You know, economically speaking, this is like a thriller novel. I mean, it is so unlikely this revenge purchase would happen, and then you can get lost thinking how it would affect the decisions of the university and the city around it for years to come.”

Markus rested his elbow on his knee and head on his hand and looked directly at Connor. “Is that your favorite way to get lost in thought? Thinking through all of the economic possibilities and statistics and theories?”

Connor felt his face and neck grow warm and he battled the urge to shrink in on himself. He wasn’t used to really being noticed, let alone someone making direct eye contact. When Markus gave a small chuckle and broke his gaze, Connor cursed his fair complexion for giving him away.

“It’s OK, you don’t have to answer that.”

Connor started out of his shyness. “Oh! No, I just, I.. I am that person. I mean, a statistics person? A book person. Not really a person person?” Oh hell, he was babbling.

Markus rose and offered his hand to Connor to help him up from the floor. “Well, I’m a ‘person-person’."

He took the hand and scolded himself for admiring how effortlessly the artist was able to help him off the floor. Connor wasn’t that light but this guy just pulled him up without even holding his breath. It was so dumb—in police academy training people had to haul others up all the time and he never once got flustered like this.

“So, okay, a people person. Are you ok if your roommate isn’t? I mean, is me?”

This was the moment. It was this corner of the roof of an old church or back to his semi-homelessness of couch surfing and library sleeping. Connor really hoped he didn’t screw this up.

Markus patted him on the shoulder and guided him to the door. “Absolutely. I could use some new perspectives in my life, even statistical ones.”

If Connor didn’t work out he was pretty sure he’d have collapsed right there out of sheer emotional levity. He had a place to live. That he could afford. God, this would make his life so much easier.

“Great! Um, when did you want a roommate—me, to move in?”

“Just give me a few hours to re-arrange stuff. Hell, you could move in tomorrow afternoon if you’d like.”

 _Tomorrow afternoon_. Only one more night of awkwardly texting friends to see if he could stay over. Finally.

“Okay,” Connor tried his best to sound casual. “Actually tomorrow afternoon works for me, so… Is it a date?

Connor immediately regretted his choice of words, but any explanation—and any ability to breathe—was stopped when he saw the grad student grin and make a show of looking him up and down.

“Okay, it’s a date.”

God, Connor thought, just throw yourself down these stairs and save yourself from the slow death of eternal embarrassment.

“Uh, ha, okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Connor waved briefly, then opened the old wood door and made his way as quickly as he could down the stairs. When he burst through the side door, he could only think about all of the nervous energy in his body, and how he wasn’t sure if this next semester was going to be the best or worst of his life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simon comes over to lay some pipe.

“So, this is why I called you over,” Markus said, pointing to the ceiling beams. “I want to put some industrial pipes on the beams so I can hang curtains to divide the room into three sections.”

The other man made a dramatic gasp and placed a hand over his heart. “Markus, did you call me over here because you wanted me to  _lay some pipe?_ ”

Markus tried his best to not to laugh. “Yes, Simon. To  _lay pipes_. It’s your dream come true, I know.”

“Well, who am I to deny a handsome man the best night of his life?” Simon then got serious. “Do you have a ladder? I’ll want to measure the length of the beams and also get an idea of how much of a gap I need between the beams and the pipe—we don’t want the pipe to follow the beams exactly, as that would be a pretty sharp angle and you’d have to fasten the fabric up here somewhere when you want them closed. But if I rig it so that near the top there’s a larger gap, the incline would be less severe, and then the light would be able to filter through better near the peak.”

Markus patted the blond’s shoulder. “And this is why I called _you_ .” He passed him a sketching of the long room that included measurements.

Simon looked at it, and then back at the beams. “You know I’m going to remeasure this, right?”

Markus sighed. “I guessed as much. I was just trying to be helpful. There’s a ladder along the wall there behind the canvases.”

Simon moved to get the ladder. “An artist never trusts someone else’s measurements. Especially when it comes to metal sculptures. That is a measure twice cut once art form.”

“When I watch you work, it’s more like measure 7 times, fret, measure another 2 times, and then maybe cut if the stars are aligned.”

“Haha, very funny. But listen, I can’t just paint over my mistakes.”

Markus feigned hurt. “I never make mistakes. I make deviations that add character.”

“OK, OK, deviations. Jeeze.” Simon relented and set up the ladder. “So who’s this roommate that’s causing this renovation?”

“He’s an economics major, a junior. He seems like a sweet kid. Kind of shy, but I think that was more a new person, nervous energy thing. I think after a while he’ll really open up and be an easy going kind of guy.”

Simon looked back down from the top of the ladder. “You’re adopting him, aren’t you? 'He'll really open up.' Markus, tell me you’re not adopting him.”

“What?” Markus started. “No, of course, I’m not."

Simon looked him square in the eye. "I know you. You're a fixer. You find people that seem a bit shy or a bit jaded or emotionally wounded and you just want to make the world all roses and rainbows and unicorns and cupcakes and you give them a part of your heart."

"The days of fixing people only to have them heal and move on are behind me,” he said bitterly.

“Good,” Simon said definitively, pulling out his measuring tape. “Because the last time you took in a sad case, she stayed with you for two months and you were ready to fall in love and then she said ‘ wham bam thank you man’ and headed right back to her scummy ex.”

Markus pinched the bridge of his nose. “That was over a year ago now and I really don’t need you to remind me of that.”

Simon took the pencil from behind his ear and crossed out one of Markus’ measurements. “Yes, yes I do. I know that broken people just seem to flock to you and you want to take everyone in, and since you won’t protect yourself, someone has to.”

“I swear, it’s not like that, I don’t want to fix him and I definitely don't like him like that.” He sighed when he thought back to the way Connor looked when he was lost in thought. Handsome. Bright. Shy. Thoughtful. Cute, even. OK, so he might like him a little, but Simon didn't need to know that yet. “Listen, he’s coming this afternoon. You’ll like him. I swear.”

Simon penciled in yet another different measurement. “Fair enough. I’ll question him when I’m working with my blowtorch.”

“Simon,” Markus groaned and rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor's friends help him move.

The blonde turned around in her seat to look directly at Connor. “So, is he cute?”

“You’d like him, if that’s what you’re asking,” he deflected.

Her mouth dropped open and Connor knew at that moment she saw right through him.

“You. Like. Him. You like him! You totally like him! You’ve never, ever crushed on anyone! Oh my god, he must be devastatingly handsome.”

“No, no, Chloe, it’s not like that, I—”

Chloe let out a squeal of delight. “Oh my god, you’re shacking up with a hot grad student!”

She turned to the driver, and placed her hands on his shoulder and sighed dramatically. “Our baby boy is all grown up and leaving the nest.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. He’s just moving to an apartment,” Kamski replied. “You’ll still see him three times a week in Econometrics and Public Policy.”

She sighed dramatically. “I wasn’t talking about the actual move. I mean, he’s all grown up, having crushes and boyfriends and affairs and flings.”

Connor leaned forward in his seat. “I’d like to clear the record that I’m not getting a boyfriend, I’m not having any affairs, and I don’t do flings.”

“That’s true,” Chloe conceded. “You’re a very relationship-centered person.”

Kamski caught Connor’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “I didn’t hear a denial of a crush, though.”

Connor blushed faintly and he leaned back in his seat. “Well, I’m sure that’ll end soon. He’ll have some weird quirk and it’ll be gone in a flash.”

‘If you say so,” Kamski smirked. “Now, tell me again why you’re moving into an attic of an abandoned church in the middle of an empty lot with a complete stranger?”

“When you put it that way it sounds so shady,” Connor sighed. “You know I can’t afford much right now. And the rent is... amazingly cheap. So cheap I might even be able to save up money to —”

“Buy an actual bed?” Kamski offered.

“Go out to eat like a normal person?” Chloe interrupted.

“Yeah, all of those things.”

“I wonder what kind of bed your roommate has?” Chloe clasped her hands together and held them close to her heart. “I can see it now; your lame air mattress deflates in the middle of the night and he says there’s enough room in his king sized bed, but you guys accidentally wind up next to each other and you wake up pinned to the mattress…”

“Why am I the one being pinned to the mattress?!” Connor interjected.

“Hey! It’s my fantasy! But fine, you guys accidentally wind up next to each other and you’re pinning him to the mattress and—oh my god does your future boyfriend weld?”

Connor leaned forward to get a view of the church, and saw a man outside the church, welding pieces together. “I don’t know. I don’t think that’s Markus.”

They pulled into the drive, and instead of helping Connor with his stuff, Chloe ran right towards the welder.

Connor reached into the trunk of the car for a box of books and heard the blowtorch shut off and Chloe introduce herself. “Hello, I’m Chloe. That back there is Kamski. If you hurt Connor we will kill you. Well, actually, Connor could actually probably kill you himself if you hurt him, but he’s too nice, so we’d have to do it.”

Connor stacked another book of boxes on top and started walking towards the church. He walked up to the blond haired man. "I’m sorry, she thinks you’re my roommate. I’m Connor, I’ll be living upstairs.” Connor tilted his head. “Nice to meet you…?”

“Simon,” the man replied, putting down his gear. “I’m a friend of Markus. I’m helping renovate the space for you guys.”

Renovate the space? Connor didn’t recall anything about renovations. “Is Markus around? I thought I could move in this afternoon, but I guess if you’re doing renovations…?”

Connor was first alerted to Markus’ presence by the grin on Chloe’s face and the finger pointing behind him. She then not so discreetly mouthed, ‘he is my type.’ Connor was saved from any further embarrassment when Kamski placed a trash bag of full of clothes into her arms.

“Nope, you can still move in,” Markus interrupted, grinning at Chloe. “So are these your friends?”

Connor shifted the weight of the boxes. Damn, books were heavy. “Yes, this is Chloe and that is Kamski. They’re helping me move.”

“They also are here to give you a death threat and warn that you’ll be viciously murdered if you hurt him,” Simon added.

Markus laughed. “OK, death threat noted. Now the door’s unlocked, and your side is all cleared up, so you can go ahead and move in.”

“Thanks,” Connor smiled, and turned to the red side door. “Come on, Chloe. You can give another lecture again later.”

Connor was halfway up the stairs with the heavy boxes when she spoke up again. “Connor, Connor, Connor. You’ve been holding out on us. You didn’t pull just one hot grad student, you pulled two!”

Connor just focused on his destination and prayed that her voice didn’t carry down the stairwell. After a moment, he replied quietly, “I didn’t pull anyone. There is no shacking up here. I’m just moving in and he just happens to have a good-looking friend. I had nothing to do with this.”

“Uh-huh,” Chloe replied, clearly not convinced this was a coincidence.

The top door was ajar, so he walked right in. Kamski whistled softly behind him and stepped away from the door to take in the sights.

Connor noted that Markus had rearranged the lounge area to blend in with his art studio, and then sectioned the middle for his own room, and left a good third of the space at the end for him. He almost dropped the books and rolled his eyes when Chloe spoke next.

“The bed,” she said in a loud whisper, pointing at Markus’ section of the attic. “It’s a king. It’s coming true! It’s going to happen, Connor! My fantasy!” She dropped the clothes on the floor at the beginning of his section. “You have to text me when it happens.”

Connor walked to the sloped corner and placed the boxes on the floor with a groan. “Listen, it’s not happening. Only in your twisted imagination.”

“What about her twisted imagination?” It was his roommate’s voice.

Connor closed his eyes and took a moment to ask for strength and for some deity to mildly curse Chloe into becoming temporarily mute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHLOE GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER  
> Also, Chloe will be the death of Connor.


	4. Chapter 4

Oh, god. That smile. He hadn’t really smiled when they first met. But Connor had just smiled this easy going, spur-of-the-moment smile, right before turning around and leading his friends upstairs. That smile—it hurt. It felt like someone was crushing his lungs. Markus knew at that moment he’d do anything to have that man smile like that every day. To not be shy and self conscious, but carefree and happy. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Simon, I think I—”

“—been holding out on us. You didn’t pull just one hot grad student, you pulled two!”

They stared at the door as the words of the bubbly blonde echoed down the stairwell. They exchanged a look and Simon grinned.

“If my math is right, we’re the two ‘hot grad students’.” Simon paused. “What a shame, I can’t hear anything else. Listen, if it doesn’t work out with the economics guy, you should absolutely have her move in. The sheer entertainment value alone would be worth it.”

Markus rolled his eyes.”You like to see me suffer, don’t you?”

Simon looked him square in the eye. “I’m pretty sure she’d be a lot easier to handle than the hot-in-nerdy-way undergrad you’ve set yourself up with. You’re already crushing on him and he literally hasn’t even fully moved in yet.”

Markus opened his mouth to deny it, but his friend cut him off.

“Nuh-uh. I saw the look on your face when he smiled. Hell, I saw the look on everyone’s face when he smiled. You’d better hope to high heaven that he’s a big, oblivious straight guy or this semester will be hell on Earth for you.”

“I’ll admit he’s… cute, but he’s just a roommate. He’ll be gone, out of our lives, by this summer.”

Simon held up his welding gear. “If he turns out to be gay, just say the word and I’ll make you a chastity belt.”

“What?! No. Totally unnecessary!”

“You can’t sleep with your roommate.”

“I won’t!”

Simon narrowed his eyes. “I know you. You’ll keep your distance but the moment someone you like says they like you back you’re all over them.”

Markus sighed. “I already promised you I’m not adopting anyone and I’m certainly not going to date anyone. Can we drop this?”

“Fine,” Simon relented, putting down his gear. “But the moment you think you’re falling head over heels and you want to fix his life and make everything better  you call me, alright? I can be the big bad wolf and kick the kid out.”

“Deal. Now, c’mon and help me grab some stuff from the car and get him moved in.”

They each grabbed two boxes—lots of books, Markus thought as he groaned under the weight.

“If I die carrying these upstairs, don’t help me,” Simon said, struggling to find the best hold on the boxes. “Just bury me where I fall.”

When they made it to the top of the stairs, they took a moment to catch their breath and caught the end of the conversation.

“Listen, it’s not happening. Only in your twisted imagination.”

“What about her twisted imagination?” Markus questioned while dropping the boxes near Connor’s side of the attic.

“Well, you see, Connor’s super poor and when his air mattress inevitably deflates he’ll need a new place to sleep and—“

“Drinks!” Connor interrupted, a slight blush on his face. “We should… go to the bar. And celebrate! The move. Of my things. Successfully.” He gave The blonde a glare. “It’ll be my treat because I’m not _that_ poor, Chloe.”

Chloe glared back. “Yes you are, Connor.”

Markus was mulling over the right words to say when Simon spoke up.

“How about we go to the bar, and the first person to pick up their phone gets the tab, hmm?”

Chloe tilted her head, and then held out her hand. “It’s a deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why is this version of Simon so extra? Also, if you love the idea of Markus x Simon x Connor, check out my tumblr hidama.tumblr.com for some headcannons.


	5. Chapter 5

“Where is my amaretto sour?” Chloe pouted, resting her head in her hands.

“I warned you,” Connor said sympathetically, “this is a bar-bar, if you want a drink fast you should’ve just grabbed a beer.”

Markus was about to offer to get up to check on the drink when Chloe spoke again.

“Eww, and be like you plebs? Please.” Chloe repeatedly poked Connor in the arm. “Up, up, up! I want to harass the bartender to get my drink.”

Connor stood from the booth seat and let Chloe slide out.

She turned to look at her boyfriend. “OK, now be sure to keep him company while I’m gone.”

“Of course,” Kamski half smiled, half grinned.

“I don’t need to be kept company,” grumbled Connor as he sat down on his end of the booth. Markus almost choked on his drink when Connor let out a yelp as Kamski pulled the man flush against him.

“Of course you do,” the engineer replied, putting his arm around Connor’s shoulder to keep him close.

Markus tried his best to not watch, in rapt attention, as Connor’s face flushed.

“We don’t have to sit so close together,” he mumbled, reaching for his drink at the other end of the table.

“Why, are you afraid something might happen… again?” teased Kamski. The engineer leaned in and younger man flailed, unable to escape, and the quick kiss on the side of his face was sealed with a loud smack.

Markus shared a brief look with Simon, who clearly was mouthing ‘again?’ when his blue eyes went wide.

“Oh, Chloe!” Simon pointed.

Markus turned to see the blonde at the bar shove the arm away from her waist and step back from the man aggressively leaning over her. He was about to get up when Kamski’s hand covered his.

“Connor’ll handle this,” the engineer explained as the young man slipped from the booth.

Markus watched in awe as the slim undergrad hooked the ankle of the belligerent man, sending him crashing to the ground, his chin painfully striking the counter on the way down. Full of confidence, Connor stepped around the man and casually leaned against the bar, flashing Chloe a smile.

When the man got back to his feet, Markus was getting up to help, but Kamski’s hand stilled him again.

“Believe me, he’s got this.”

The man’s right hook should have landed square on Connor’s jaw—but instead it swung through the air, leaving the assailant off balance. Chloe rushed to the booth to settle next to Kamski.

“Oh, he’s in for it now,” Chloe said conspiratorially, grinning while stealing a sip from her boyfriend’s water.

The man kept swinging but somehow kept missing. Blows that should have landed, didn’t. His powerful swings missed their target, again and again, making him appear like a sloppy, comical drunk instead of the powerhouse he was. Sometimes his fist would glance off a table or counter, but most times it flew through the air.

Connor kept backing up, sometimes apologizing to the people whose tables were bumped as he dodged the blows. Soon Connor was at the entrance, and it looked like he had nowhere to go. But as the man swung once more, the undergrad grabbed the man’s arm and used the momentum to send him crashing into the entrance and out onto the street. He quickly closed the door and stood on his tiptoes, engaging the locking mechanism on the top of the door. A second later the door rattled and the bar was filled with the man’s roars of threats and profanities.

“Yes, I’m at the Wellbourne Pub on Mason Street and there is a patron who started a fight.” Markus tore his eyes from the scene to see Kamski on the phone. “He’s currently locked out of the establishment and causing a raucous.” The engineer then abruptly hung up.

“Does this mean you’re picking up the tab?” Connor asked, a bit breathless when he made his way back to stand in front of their booth. “You did pick up your phone, first,” he pointed out, reaching across the table to grab his beer.

Markus and Simon just sat in silence, like much of the rest of the bar.

“If you think that was amazing,” Chloe said, leaning forward, “you should see him during sex!”

Simon and Connor simultaneously spewed beer. Markus patted Simon’s back as he sputtered.

“Chloe!” Connor chastised between coughs. “What the hell?”

Chloe reached over and threw her arms around Connor’s waist. “You can’t be mad at me. You just saved me!” She pulled him to the booth, and he slid back into his old spot.

“How did you, well, do that?” Markus asked.

Connor immediately perked up and smiled shyly. “Oh, well, I’ve kinda wanted to be a police officer for a while? And so I’ve been training since I was like 15 and have taken classes for—”

“—My heeeerooo!”

“No Chloe!—Uggghh.”

Connor sighed, resigned, as Chloe dramatically leaned over and left a glossy kiss mark on his cheek. She then settled her head against his shoulder, looking up at him in mock admiration. “I know you’ll always be there to save me.”

Simon interrupted the cheesy scene. “Are all three of you... together?”

“Yes,” Chloe and Kamski affirmed in unison.

“No, it’s not like that!” Connor firmly retorted, waving his hands dramatically.

Now Markus was totally confused. “Then what is it like?”

Connor began chugging the rest of his beer, and the pair next to him began laughing.

“If you get the next round, I’ll spill all the beans,” Chloe chimed in.

Markus has never pulled out his wallet so fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those wishing for Simon x Connor x Markus, I do have some of that in my fic, "Simon and Markus Seduce Connor." Hopefully, that'll tide you over, because this fic will just be Connor x Markus. 
> 
> AND CHLOE GET OUT OF HERE WITH YOUR TEASING
> 
> Also I promise for there to be glorious just Connor and Markus alone time coming up. After all, soon they'll spend their first night together as roommates! Will the air mattress hold up? Will Chloe's dream come true of the men sharing a bed? TIL NEXT TIME in this silly AU fic.


End file.
